Edward MacDowell was an American romantic composer who wrote symphonic music on par with the European tone poem masters of his time. However, as he was an American, most American audiences today don’t know his music. Time to bring him back!
His most famous piece is a short little “ditty”, akin to many of the short pieces by Grieg that were popular at the time. It doesn’t represent the depth of his musical vision, which is akin to the great works of Richard Strauss. Anyway, here is “To a Wild Rose” – since we all know what April showers bring …
Stravinsky’s famous springtime piece is so famous, powerful, and legendary, that it’s easy to forget that it didn’t just materialize out of nowhere. The Rite of Spring sounds the way it does because music had actually been headed in that direction for a quite while. Don’t believe me? Well, a couple years before The Rite was premiered, Claude Debussy wrote Images for Orchestra, which, though not as primitive and raw, sounds very similar. Coincidentally, both pieces have a section called “Spring Rounds.”
In the late 19th century, Richard Strauss became the champion composer of tone poems – musical pieces which illustrate non-musical ideas, such as poetry, stories, or even philosophy. Tone poems can be representational (like Berlioz‘s March to the Scaffold, in Symphonie Fantastique) or abstract (most of Also Sprach Zarathustra); you can listen carefully for specific events in the story portrayed, or just sit back and enjoy the music.
Till Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks is a representational tone poem – Strauss has taken a number of scenes from Till’s life and set them into easily recognizable sections.
Wait … you don’t know who Till Eulenspiegel is? Let me “Till” you …
Till Eulenspiegel is pretty easy to sum up – he’s a wily trickster who loves to play jokes on everybody. I’d also recommend reading his history – especially the origin of his name and his *ahem* crappier tricks (not for children! or maybe, more appropriate for children …). Like many tricksters, he is tolerated for a time, and then despised as people tire of his foolishness.
The work begins with a legendary musical statement by the strings that supposedly says “once upon a time” in German. We then hear the merry prank theme in the horn – easy to recognize, and returns often. Till is represented by the Eb Clarinet – a squeaky little thing that should never have been invented – which represents the goofy character perfectly. We hear a number of his tricks: knocking things over in the market (3:07), dressing up as a priest (7:06), chasing after women (8:43). Eventually he is caught and sentences to death (12:27), pleads for his life a couple of times (12:43 & 13:00). We think he has died (14:15), but in the end, he escapes! (15:31)
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